New Director of SUU'S Utah Summer Games Selected

December 12, 2003Author: Dean O'DriscollCategory: Academics

Kyle Case was the unanimous choice of a selection committee representing the Cedar City community as the new person to take over the leadership of Utah Summer Games, located on the campus of Southern Utah University. Case has been a member of the USG team for years and will be able to take over the position with a solid background of knowledge.

“Kyle’s energy is going to move the games to a new level,” says SUU Vice President for Advancement Mark Barton. “He impressed us all with his well-thought-out action plan for where he wants to take the Games. His leadership is going to be good for the Games, the athletes across the state and for our community.” Case will report to Barton as he assumes the reins of responsibility for the Summer Games.

“I’m very excited about the potential this gives me to be a positive influence in the lives of others,” Case exclaims. He has been working with the Games in various capacities for the past four seasons and has thought about the possibility of being the leader. “This is something I’ve been looking forward to and I have a lot of energy I want to put into this,” says Case.

Kyle has already been working on the Games’ web site and is working closely with Barton on making the transition a smooth one. He is also involved in the current hiring process of an office manager for the program. Case will officially take on the permanent role, January 1, 2004.

Case takes on this position following Barton’s interim leadership role during this past year’s event. Kyle worked hard this past season, with other members of the team, to help make the 18th version of the Summer Games very successful. He will be moving over from his current full-time position with SUU as the academic adviser of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“The appointment of Kyle Case as director of the Utah Summer Games is an important step in the continuing progress of the Games,” states SUU President Steve Bennion. “Mark Barton and several associates, including Kyle Case, have done a superb job this past year. Kyle’s familiarity with and passion for the Games, his organizational and technological skills and his character make him a splendid choice.”

Bennion adds his appreciation on behalf of the USG’s Board of Commissioners for the excellent work of the selection committee which included community members.

“This is great news as far as I’m concerned,” states Steve Ahlgreen, long-time volunteer and veteran Operations Director for USG. “He already knows the operation and we are going to be able to get right to work.”

The Utah Summer Games is an Olympic-style sports festival for athletes of all ages and abilities open to residents of the state of Utah. For the past 18 years the Games have been conducted in Cedar City with an average of 7,000 participants, 50 thousand spectators, and 1,000 volunteers.

It is the objective of the Utah Summer Games to provide the highest quality experience at a reasonable cost to participants and their families and to assist Utah athletes, through information sharing, development assistance, promoting academic excellence, good citizenship skills and public education. More than 70 percent of the athletes participating in the Games, which totaled 8,900 in 2003, come from along the Wasatch Front in northern metro Utah.